Christoph Marthaler and his ensemble inspect the perfect Enharmonic moment: sleeping. And the place where we sleep is the king size bed.Listen to sixties hits of the Kinks, Goethe songs by Schumann and Come heavy sleep by John Dowland, next to Beethoven and The Jackson Five.

A couple are trying to sleep in an unfamiliar room, but they feel lost in the huge bed. As their dreams take over they console themselves through songs from Purcell to the Jackson Five via Schumann and Michel Polnareff.

Background

Swiss director and composer Christoph Marthaler has long been at the forefront of European theatre. In King Size, first performed in Basel in 2013, he presents a hugely original take on the Liederabend. In Marthaler's hands this traditional 'evening of song' becomes a witty, charming and profound meditation on love and the seduction of dreams.

At the heart of Marthaler's vision is the musical phenomenon of enharmonics – two notes that have different names but sound the same. Mathaler uses this idea not only to unite songs from across lyrical history but to explore self and other, dream and reality. Bendix Dethleffsen creates the score.

"KING SIZE is Marthaler at his best. In a hotel room, a couple is trying to sleep, but both their dreams and the king-size bed are too big. Music, from Wagner to German Schlager, will console. One of the most bittersweet evenings on the German theatre scene at the moment". (Kampnagel, Hamburg)